Japan is located in Eastern Asia. It is an island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula.
Tsugaru-shamisen
The words Tsugaru-shamisen denote both an ancient folk idiom whose origins hark back to a snowy, rural region of northern Japan, and to the rustic, banjo/lute-like instrument on which it is played. The tsugaru-shamisen instrument itself is the largest of the three principal types of shamisen, giving it the fullest sound, and its hollow body is traditionally covered in animal skin.
The genre was first developed by itinerant blind street buskers, who earned spare change playing melodies and rhythms reflecting their tough lot in life. As modernity and western influences swept Japan’s young people over time, this spare and evocative art form fell out of favor.
It the 2000s, there was a hugely popular revival, and the subsequent renewal of interest in other traditional forms, including Kabuki theater and Tanka, classic Japanese verse. The interest in Tsugaru-shamisen was due in large part to the Yoshida Brothers’ music.
Chindon music – until the 1950s was a popular street form of advertising. Chindon bands were common in Japanese cities where new openings of shops, inaugurations of pachinkos (arcades) were announced by them.
Okinawan music
Okinawa has a rich cultural tradition. The principal genres include kumiodori and zo kodori.
Kumiodori is a type of noh-inspired theater developed when the island archipelago of Okinawa was an independent kingdom called Ryukyu (15th to late-19th centuries). It was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010. The classical dance and music repertoire from the Ryukyu Kingdom is performed in colorful, beautiful costumes. It is elegant and deliberate with dignified melodies and rhythmic accompaniment. (source: Japan Society, UNESCO)
Zo odori are popular folk dances that originated in the 19th century, as the Ryukyu Kingdom ended and the royal courts disbanded. These energetic and dynamic folk dances, often performed barefoot in a simple kimono made of indigo-dyed fabric or abaca cloth, feature the lively rhythms of typical Okinawan music. (source: Japan Society)
One of the most important Oninawan musical instruments is the sanshin, a snakeskin-covered banjo-like instrument unique to the islands.
Japanese Musicians
Agatsuma
Minyo Crusaders
Yoko Hiraoka
Yuji Hasegawa
Yukihiro Atsumi
